As a general rule, look through the last 20 or so traveller postings and see what the general tone is of the comments. This way you will very quickly get an impression of whether that hotel is going to be a good experience or not.

As a general rule I like the Sukhumvit area, because of the restaurants and proximity to the Skytrain.

But at Christmas and New Year time, it is hard to beat being in the heart of the shopping area near to Central World and I would certainly choose Siam, Central World or Pratunam areas at this time of year because the atmosphere is just fantastic.